


Whispered Promises

by trikrukommander



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Neighbors, F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-07
Updated: 2016-03-21
Packaged: 2018-05-25 08:20:42
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,101
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6187225
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/trikrukommander/pseuds/trikrukommander
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It all begins on an average fall afternoon. Emma's new to the neighbourhood; more particularly: Regina's building. They're polar opposites, but what happens when their worlds suddenly collide? Emma pursues Regina as a personal challenge, but what both discover at the end of the journey, is something neither could have expected.</p><p>//HIATUS</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> I have this posted on ff, just giving it a chance here too. I have 4 chapters there - I will post them here overtime, and then the new additions :) Kudos & comments more than welcome! Let me know if you like it.

Regina Mills, from a distance, seemed pretty ordinary; some would even dare to say, "boring". She was a college professor, she had a sixteen-year-old son, she lived in a New York City penthouse and she liked things in her life to be, for a lack of a better word, organised.

She had few friends, but they were loyal and that's all she needed. Trust didn't come easy to her and her walls were constantly miles high. The only person, who had perpetual access to Regina's heart, was her son Henry. Their relationship was like most, it had its ups and downs, but there was nothing either wouldn't do for the other. They were all they had.

Little did the Mills family know, that what seemed like an extremely average fall afternoon, was going to be the day their lives would start to change. Not immediately, not in a way either of them could imagine, but slowly, unsurely, their lives would change for the better.

* * *

Routine wasn't a foreign concept in the Mills household. Every morning, Regina would wake up at six o'clock for half an hour of morning yoga, followed with a cup of scolding, black coffee and making breakfast for the most important man in her life.

Tuesdays were pancake days, and this morning proved to be no different. At around seven, Regina always began hearing Henry's clumsy movements in his bedroom as he started getting ready for school, and a few minutes after that, his still sleepy footsteps would make their way to the kitchen for breakfast.

"Good morning, my love." Regina greeted her son with a kiss to the temple and set a plate of pancakes in front of him, accompanied by a small jar of maple syrup and a mug of hot cocoa.

Henry mumbled something resembling a greeting, before practically burying his face in his breakfast.

Regina watched him for a few moments, a soft smile prancing around on her plump lips as she took a final sip of her coffee and set the mug into the dishwasher. There wasn't a thing on this Earth she could ever love as much as that boy.

"Is all your homework done?" Regina questioned and gave Henry a stern look as he gathered his plate and followed suit, also stuffing it in the dishwasher. "I know I heard shooting noises coming from your bedroom last night, when I should have been hearing blissful silence resulting from you being glued to the pages of your textbooks."

Grinning at his mother, the boy rolled his eyes playfully and gave her a hug. "Have a good day at work, mom. I'll see you later." was all he said in response. Regina was now left stranded in the middle of her kitchen floor, with a confused look plastered on her face as she watched her son grab his coat and backpack and head out the door.

"Have a good day at school?" she mumbled in response, after Henry had already walked out the door. She never did understand teenage behaviour. Shaking off her confusion, Regina walked to her office and packed everything she needed for the day; piles of half marked essays, lecture plans and tonnes of other paperwork that only seemed to be growing bigger each day.

Checking her reflection in their full-length corridor mirror, Regina smirked to herself. She managed to pull off the sophisticated look pretty well. A grey, tight fitting skirt suit hugged her body in all the right places and the black shirt poking from underneath added an extra bit of simplistic class.

Pursing her lips and ruffling her hair, Regina was satisfied with her look. Her black satchel now weighing on her shoulder, she left her apartment just as any other morning.

Regina lived on the top floor of an apartment building, which contained two living extensions on each level. Her previous neighbours moved out a couple of months ago, so since then her and Henry practically had the top floor to themselves, without distractions and unnecessary human interaction.

The elevator sounded on her floor before she even had a chance to press the call button for it, and Regina momentarily frowned in confusion. The doors opened and much to her surprise, someone occupied it. She wasn't expecting guests.

Inside stood a woman, a few suitcases by her side and she seemed slightly out of breath. Regina's frown deepened.

"Can I help you?" she asked, her tone indicating she didn't have time for this type of nonsense.

The blonde woman inside the elevator nodded frantically, oblivious to Regina's tone, as she shoved one of her three suitcases in her direction.

"God, yes. Can you believe no one before you offered?!" she exclaimed, seemingly flabbergasted.

"No, that's not-" Regina began, but before she knew it the suitcase was in her hands and the blonde was making her way out of the metal box and into the hallway. "Who are you?"

"Your new neighbour, lady!" the blonde grinned, dropping her suitcases once again and pushing her hand inside Regina's palm. "Emma Swan."

Mostly out of habit, Regina shook Emma's hand and nodded in greeting. "Regina Mills." She paused for a moment. "I haven't been notified we would be having neighbours again, Miss Swan. When did you come into possession of the apartment?" Regina asked, taking back her hand and gently wiping it against the material on her hips.

Trying not to look offended, Emma shrugged and once again started dragging her suitcases towards the door to her new apartment. "Just last night, it was sort of a quick decision."

"Very well." Regina replied, not all too pleased. "Now, if you'll excuse me, Miss Swan. I've work to get to." Without waiting for a reply, Regina nudged the elevator button a couple of times, despite knowing the gesture won't make it come any faster.

For a few moments, Emma simply watched Regina, trying to figure her out. She didn't even know her and already she was acting as if Emma was the biggest scum on the planet. What, with all the fake kindness and politeness. Who even talks like that? Lost in her thoughts, she didn't even realise that Regina had already gone. Stranded in the middle of the hallway with three suitcases by her side, Emma shook her head and rolled her eyes. That was going to be a problem for another day.

Fishing inside the pocket of her skinny jeans, Emma pulled out the key to her new apartment, smiling to herself.

Now, looking at Emma, many would wonder how she could possibly afford a place like this. Penthouses in buildings like these belonged to people like, well, Regina. Not someone, who like Emma, could fit their whole life into three suitcases; technically, not even. One of them was filled with a very thick and space consuming baby blanket, as well as a jacket which most definitely did not belong to her, but that's a story for later.

Settling into her new apartment only took a couple of hours, considering she didn't have much organising to do.

Her clothes fit semi-neatly into her wardrobe and any other personal belongings she might have had have been scattered around the apartment under the excuse of making it "homey".

With unpacking out of the way, Emma decided to do just a little grocery shopping so she'd be settled for a few days. Throwing her signature red leather jacket over her shoulders, she grabbed her keys and wallet and out of the door she went.

Emma loved this time of the year, and it's been a while since she'd seen it. You don't get to experience the effects of time and the change of weather from inside a prison cell, after all. She'd been stuck in one for a little over two years until recently, when she managed to get out early on good behaviour; but that was behind her now. Something she wanted to forget.

She doubted anyone in her new building would love to hear her prison stories. Regina would probably hate knowing she has an ex convict as a neighbour. The thought brought a smirk to Emma's lips.

Emma never took care of herself particularly well, so it was no surprise when all she found appealing at the grocery store were some ready made meals and some packs of Doritos, accompanied by a few bottles of something fizzy. Having forgotten a basket when she entered the store, she had everything balanced neatly against her chest.

With everything stacked in her arms, Emma's vision of what was ahead of her wasn't a luxury she could afford anymore. A few careful steps forward got her closer to the check out counter, but not fast enough. Before she knew it, everything she had picked out was splattered in front of her on the ground, and a loud groan escaped her lips.

"Would you fucking watch where you're go-" Emma looked up, trailing off mid sentence, suddenly breaking out a grin. "Lily!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms around her friend's neck.

The two women stood in the cereal isle for a few seconds in a tight embrace, before moving apart, but not breaking physical contact, holding on to each others hands.

"How have you been? When did you get out?" The questions seemed to spill out of the girls at the same time, causing them to chuckle.

"Look, how about I finish shopping and then we can go back to my place and get some coffee and catch up?" Emma offered, smiling at her friend.

Lily nodded, bending down to help Emma pick her groceries from the floor. "Where do you live?"

Balancing everything in her arms again, Emma, this time with Lily's guidance, made her way to the tills. "Oh, I just got an apartment around ten minutes from here." She answered, throwing the cashier a polite smile as he scanned through her items. Bagging everything, she paid and motioned for Lily to follow her.

"I've got the best idea." Lily grinned, following Emma. "We're gonna throw you a house warming party!"

Emma seemed to ponder on the idea for a while, before turning to her friend and slowly nodding, as if still thinking about the idea. "That could work. There's a bunch of people I'd love to catch up with. Just need to get a hold of everyone's numbers again."

"Let me worry about that. Just give me your address and I'll have everything ready for the evening, okay? Here…" Lily reached into Emma's pocket and pulled out her phone, adding in her own number. "There's my number. Message me your address and I'll see you later." She smiled, kissing Emma's cheek, and, without waiting for a response, walked off leaving Emma alone once again.

"Well this should be interesting." She mumbled to herself.

* * *

Regina's day passed slower than usual. Her lectures dragged and even her lunch break seemed to take hours as she marked some left over papers. Most of the time she felt like writing a big, fat "you're a moron" on the back of the papers; it was difficult to constantly remain professional.

Throughout the rest of the day, Regina felt as if her new neighbour had shifted the whole balance of her day. She didn't like surprises, they threatened her, and this was definitely a big one. Her and Henry had grown accustomed to having the floor to themselves, and it'll be "interesting" sharing it.

Just as she was about to leave the university to finally make her way home, a hand gently pulling on the sleeve of her blazer, stopped her. Holding back an eye roll and an annoyed sigh, Regina closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose before turning around.

She wasn't surprised when she saw a doe eyed co-worker, hopeful once again, to make conversation with her.

"Miss Blanchard, what can I do you for?"

"Well, I just wanted to see if you had any plans this evening, Regina." She stated matter of factly, the grin on her face almost painful in Regina's eyes. "There is a food and wine tasting for the faculty later on this evening, as I'm sure you're aware, and I was wondering if you were thinking about making an appearance."

God damn it, Regina had completely forgotten about the faculty meeting. "I'm afraid that's out of the question, Miss Blanchard. I've already made a promise to my son that we'd cook together this evening." She answered simply, turning around to leave.

Another tug on her jacket.

Regina's hands made quick fists, as she took a deep breath, slowly turning around once more. "Yes?"

As if for once sensing Regina's uncooperative mood, Miss Blanchard opened and closed her mouth a few times like a fish without water, before deciding to drop the matter, dismissing it with the wave of a hand.

"Nothing. I'll see you tomorrow, Regina." She smiled, giving Regina's arm a gentle squeeze, before walking away.

Why Mary Margaret continuously tried making friends with Regina as if they were a pair of high school girls, was something she would never understand.

Finally free from the day's responsibilities, Regina made her way to her car and sped off down the road. A swift flick of her wrist turned on the radio, letting music blast through the speakers. Nodding her head rhythmically and occasionally singing along to the lyrics made the drive home just that much faster.

Before she knew it, Regina made it home. However, even on her way up in the elevator, she could tell something was…wrong. As soon as the elevator doors opened on her floor, Regina's jaw nearly hit the floor. The hallway was filled with people smoking, drinking and otherwise acting like animals.

"What the fu-" she trailed off, seeing Henry standing outside of their apartment door, talking to some woman. "For the love of god, Henry, get inside." She yelled over the loud music originating from the apartment next door. Pushing a slightly reluctant Henry back into their home.

Someone was going to pay for this.

Back inside her own apartment, Emma was slightly uncomfortable. She was never good with _too_ many people, and this might just have been her limit. Lily did a great job at throwing something like this together at such short notice, really, but it was just too much for Emma.

After a while she lost track of Lily and most people she knew; her apartment was filled mostly with strangers who she had no intentions of knowing on a deeper level.

Sighing, she poured herself a drink, looking around her place. Her eyes stopped on one particular brunette, and her face quickly lit up. "Ruby!" Emma grinned, walking up to her old friend, wrapping her up in a quick hug.

The two sat at the island between her living room and kitchen and talked for easily an hour, drinks flowing quickly. Their laughs grew louder and their conversations grew deeper.

"I saw that Lily was here." Ruby mumbled, careful about approaching the subject.

"Yeah, she actually threw this whole thing together. I figured she would have invited you?" Emma frowned, wondering how Ruby ended up here if it wasn't for Lily.

"She must have invited my roommate, I guess. I'm her "plus one"." Ruby chuckled, rolling her eyes. "Anyway, how are you two? Have you spoken much since, you know..."

"Since we broke up?" Emma finished for her, throwing her drink back in one gulp. "Nope. I ran into her at the grocery store today, and all of a sudden," she waved her hands in the air like a crazy woman, gesturing the apartment, "all of this was happening."

Ruby sighed, pouring her friend another drink.

"Look, it's okay, Ruby, We happened a long time ago. I've moved on." Ruby raised a questioning eyebrow. "Just because I'm not _with_ anyone right now, doesn't mean I haven't. I mean, cut me some slack Rubes, I've been behind bars for crying out loud." She grimaces at her own words. "Point is, I don't want her anymore and she, well…" Emma gestures towards the object of their conversation as she draped herself around a random woman, practically shoving her tongue down her throat. "She clearly doesn't want me either."

Both the women seemed to roll their eyes at exactly the same time causing Ruby to reach over and reassuringly squeeze her friend's shoulder, smiling softly.

A sudden, loud thumping on her door got their attention, but what made Emma stumble to her feet was the fact that the door suddenly blew open, banging against the wall. The whole room grew quieter.

"Who the fuck?" Emma mumbled, staggered forward, squinting her eyes. "Oh, Regina! Hey!" She smiled, despite being confused at the woman's presence and seemingly bad mood. "Welcome to the party."

"Miss Swan." Regina's tone sent shivers down her spine. She was so calm and put together, that she was actually scary. Crap. "What the hell do you think this is? I work all day like a fucking slave and when I finally come home to relax, this is definitely not something I want to come back to!" She raises her voice slightly, gesturing around the room and out into the corridor. "Not to mention the fact that I have a sixteen-year-old who definitely doesn't need exposing to this kind of behaviour right now."

Emma frowned. Sure, she might now have wanted this party in a way it ended up being, and she was tired of everyone here but Ruby, but now? Hell no. Nobody was going to come into her home and yell at her, telling her what she can and cannot do. Her rebellious spirit wouldn't allow it, even if it were just to spite her new neighbour.

A slight smirk grew on her face. "Sure Regina." She responded as sweetly as she could muster. A soft chuckle emanated from Ruby who was seated behind her still. "Consider it done." Her smile now matched the tone of her over; overly sweet.

Regina looked at her for a moment, and even from a distance, Emma could see her nostrils flaring in anger. It made her chest tighten with pride.

A few seconds later she was gone, slamming the door shut with as much noise and ruckus as when she banged it open.

Emma slowly turned around and stared at Ruby, both their eyes wide open in shock, before they broke up in uncontrollable laughter.

"What the hell was that?"

"That was my new neighbour. Regina. She seems like a delight, right?" Emma shook her head, once again sitting down besides her friend.

"She may not be the most exciting person to be around, but hot damn," Ruby smirked; "she's super hot. You should totally tap that."

Emma arched an eyebrow, swirling the drink inside her glass before once again downing its components.

"Yeah. Yeah, I totally should." Emma's mind began spinning ideas, a smirk now forming on her face as well. "Here's to life's beautiful challenges." She raised her newly filled glass and clinked it with Ruby's.

In slow, unsteady steps, Emma made her way over to the speaker system, turned the dial and cranked up the volume.

She was gonna play good, but not tonight.


	2. Chapter Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the support guys, I appreciate it loads. If you like, please remember to leave kudos and comments! :)
> 
> Also, I can be found on tumblr under trikrukommander !

The morning came all too quickly, as far as Regina was concerned. She barely slept last night, thanks to her new neighbours shenanigans. The little visit she paid her yesterday only seemed to rile her up more and by the end of the night Regina had half the mind to call the police and report it all. She probably would have, if Henry had said anything to her about having trouble sleeping because of it.

Quite on the contrary, the only problem Regina had with regards to Henry last night was the fact that the boy seemed to want to go back outside as soon as she shoved him inside their apartment.

Their morning was a silent one: whether Henry chose to ignore his mother out of spite for her “not letting him have any fun” or simply because both were exhausted, Regina couldn’t figure out.

A knock on the door brought them both out of their thoughts. Henry, almost too eagerly, jumped out of his seat and trotted to open it.

“Hey kid!” Emma mumbled from outside the door as she reached over and ruffled up Henry’s hair.

“Hi Emma!” the grin on Henry’s face was noticeable in his voice. 

Regina’s eyebrows instantly drew together as she watched their interaction. Setting down her cup of coffee, she crossed her arms across her chest and walked over to the pair, standing righteously behind her son.

“I didn’t realise you two had the pleasure of meeting.” Regina said in greeting, disapproval seeping into her words. “Is there something we can help you with, Miss Swan?” Her tone suggested nothing but the fact that she wanted to get this over and done with.

Taking in the sight before her, Regina couldn’t help but roll her eyes. Emma was standing before them in an oversized white dress shirt and a pair of red shorts that barely covered anything. Regina almost felt the need to cover Henry’s eyes.

She was practically the exact opposite of Regina, who was already dressed in her Wednesday navy pantsuit.

Ignoring Regina’s tone, Emma turned her gaze to Henry again and smiled at him sweetly. “Kid, you got any aspirin or something I could borrow?”

“I’m sorry, Miss Swan, we don’t ha-“ before Regina could finish her sentence, Henry was already on his way to their medicine cabinet yelling that he’ll be right back.

Sighing audibly, Regina crossed her arms tighter around her chest. Shuffling her feet, Emma started playing with the bottoms of her shirtsleeves. 

“Listen, Regina, I’m sorry about last night, okay? Things got a bit out of hand; I admit that. As far as first impressions go, I guess I didn’t make a great one, huh?” she mumbled sheepishly, raising her arm and scratching the back of her neck in an equally sheepish manner. The gesture raised her shirt just enough to show a sliver of a perfectly toned stomach. 

Regina’s eyes didn’t fail to notice, though she averted her gaze immediately.

“You’re definitely right about that.” She responded, glaring at Emma with annoyance and irritation filling her eyes. “Henry and I have lived here for a long time, Miss Swan, and we like how things are. If the kind of behaviour you showed yesterday keeps happening, I’m afraid you’ll give me no choice but to talk to the agency.”

Slight frustration flashed on Emma’s face. This woman was going to be a royal pain in the ass: that was for sure. But if she were to ever achieve what she told herself she would, she’d have to play along; at least for now.

“It won’t happen again, okay? The party last night wasn’t even my idea and it just continued getting out of control as the night went on. I’d had too much to drink and honestly, I didn’t have the will to stop it.” She shrugged. “Maybe you should try letting lose once upon a blue moon too, then you’d understand.”

Crap. She wasn’t supposed to say the last part.

Regina’s jaw clenched and if looks could kill…

“Shit, sorry. What I mean is- uh-” she paused, again scratching the back of her neck, struggling for words.

Uncrossing her arms, Regina lifted a hand in protest. “Save it, Miss Swan.” She mumbled bitterly, staring at her with daggers in her eyes. She only turned her head when she heard Henry jogging towards them with a bottle of pills rattling in his hands.

“Sorry, I couldn’t find the right ones.” He murmured, passing the bottle to a once again smiling Emma.

“Thanks kid.” She then turned her attention back to Regina, holding up the bottle of pills. “Mind if I give this back to you later?”

Regina was about to respond, when she heard the familiar sound of the elevator, her face instantly lighting up. Frowning slightly, Emma turned around. Walking out of the elevator was a fairly handsome man, a smile forming on his face as soon as his eyes met Regina.

“Good morning, love.” He greeted from the elevator, walking over and kissing Regina’s cheek. “Henry” he smiled and ruffled the boy’s hair in a similar manner to what Emma did some time before. 

“Good morning, dear.” Regina answered, her tone sweeter and warmer than Emma had heard her use before.

Taking a stand beside Regina, the man wrapped one of his arms tightly around her shoulder, pulling her close, and the other he outstretched in Emma’s direction.

“Hi, I’m Robin.”

“Emma. I’m Regina’s new neighbour.” She greeted in return, shaking the man’s hand and trying to seem as put together as she could muster right now.

This was definitely not part of her plan and not something she anticipated. Not necessarily the fact that Regina was with a man, but the fact that she was in a relationship at all. She seemed like such a stuck up pain in the ass, Emma simply didn’t imagine her with anyone. Though, from just a few seconds of Regina’s interaction with Robin, she saw a different person than she’d had the pleasure of meeting so far.

Her whole demeanour changed: her face was graced with a genuine smile, her eyes were happy; she just…had a glow around her.

“It’s nice to meet you.” They both spoke at the same time. Emma seemed to be doing that a lot.”Uhm, anyway… I’ll leave you guys alone.” She raised the bottle of pills, rattling them in the air. “I’ll bring these back to you tonight.”

If Regina didn’t know any better, all of a sudden, Emma seemed almost defeated. As soon as Robin stepped out of the elevator, the mood shifted as far as her neighbour was concerned.

Wrapping her arm around Robin’s waist, Regina looked at Emma. “You know, I never said you can take them.”

She felt the man at her side give her a little nudge, and when she looked at him, Robin gave Regina a look. Rolling her eyes, she returned her gaze to Emma. 

“Fine. Just don’t use all of them.” And with that she turned around with Robin in tow, stepping further into her apartment. “Come on, Henry.”

“See you later Emma.” The boy smiled and followed his mother, shutting the door behind him.

As soon as the door closed, Regina let out a long breath, shaking her head.

“Did I sense some tension back there?” Robin asked, trying to be as sensitive as he could, noticing the situation was uneasy for Regina. “Come here, talk to me.” He opened his arms, gesturing for her to join him.

Giving him a faint smile, Regina walked into his arms, resting her forehead against his chest, as Robin wrapped her up in a tight embrace.

“She’s just so obnoxious, Robin. And so loud and so shameless! I mean, did you see what she was wearing?!” She lifted her head, her eyes wide with shock. Robin chuckled, taking her hands into his and giving them a squeeze.

“Relax. It’ll be okay.” He smiled, wrapping Regina’s arms around his neck and bringing his lips close to her ear. “I’ll make it all better.”

Her body immediately relaxed and a grin started forming on her face when she felt Robin’s lips pepper kisses form her ear and down her neck.

“Ew, mom! And you think _that_ is appropriate behaviour in front of your sixteen year old son?” Henry mumbled with his mouth full of cereal, his face scrunched in disgust.

Regina moved away from Robin and then proceeded to further push him away, holding in a giggle. “Finish your breakfast and go get ready for school, Henry.” The boy rolled his eyes, but wolfed down the rest of his cereal and jogged to his room anyway. 

He didn’t love seeing a man grope his mother and be inappropriate with her right in front of him, but deep down, he knew that Robin made her happy, and that’s all he ever really wanted. It’d been a while since he’d seen his mother genuinely smile before Robin came into their lives.

Ten minutes later, everyone was ready to go. Robin usually popped into their apartment most mornings. He dropped Henry off with Regina, and then the two of them would usually stop for another coffee before they both departed for work. They didn’t get to spend too much time together, so they grasped at any extra minutes they could.

They were both busy people and they had respect for each other, their work and personal life outside of the other.

“I’ll see you later, my love, okay?” Robin asked through the rolled down window of his car as he dropped Regina off at the university.

“Definitely.” She replied, leaning down and giving him a quick kiss before he drove away.

* * *

 

Emma spent the better part of her day being the responsible adult she wanted to believe she was, by cleaning her mess of an apartment.

The amount of pizza boxes and red solo cups scattered around the place was uncanny, not to mention the overall stickiness of her furniture was enough to make Emma gag.

Her hair was swept in a messy bun situated atop her head, and she sported a plain white tank top and a pair of jeans. Emma was practically a walking and talking advertisement for casual clothing. She did pride herself, however, on her array of leather jackets. They were her proudest possession.

That being said, Emma definitely didn’t feel like she was in a state for having anyone over again, so when a knock sounded at her door, she almost didn’t open.

“Emma? It’s Lily.” A voice came from the other side of the door after a few more unsuccessful knocks were made. Sighing, Emma looked around her apartment: it definitely looked much better than this morning.

Walking over to the door, she pushed on the doorknob with the back of her hand, which was currently dressed in a yellow latex glove.

“Hey. What’s up?” She asked, using her forearm to wipe a bit of sweat from her forehead.

Peaking inside, Lily made a face. “Is this a bad time?”

“No, it’s fine. Though if you wanna come in and help me out a bit, that’d be great, too. I’m holding you partly responsible for what became of my apartment last night.” She mumbled with just a tad of annoyance in her voice as she pointed a latex finger in Lily’s face. 

“Alright alright.” Lily chuckled, pushing past Emma. She threw her bag and jacket on the sofa, opening up her arms in invitation. “Hit me with the worst you’ve got.”

Emma grinned, taking off the gloves on her hands and passing them to Lily. A small smirk adorned her lips. “Bathroom’s all yours.” She motioned with her head, smirk widening. Lily’s face dropped and she suddenly seemed dispirited.

“Come on, Ems.” She whined but took the gloves from her anyway and headed for the dreaded room. Emma, on the other hand, walked to the kitchen and poured herself a glass of wine. She figured maybe her hangover would go away if she kept herself drunk.

Glass of white wine in tow, she followed Lily and leaned against the door frame, watching with satisfaction as she got to work on the bathroom with pure disgust written all over her face.

“I sincerely hope you at least enjoyed yourself last night, otherwise what I’m about to do won’t be worth it in the slightest.” Lily grimaced.

Emma chuckled, taking a sip of her wine. “Whether I enjoyed myself or not, is irrelevant. You enjoyed yourself enough for the both of us, it seemed.” She didn’t mean for the slight bitterness in her voice and she tried covering it up by quickly taking another sip.

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you sound jealous, Em.” She looked up at the woman in the doorframe.

Emma nearly choked on her wine. Shaking her head, she raised her hand in protest. “I’ll tell you again like I told Ruby last night: I’m over you, Lily. We happened a long time ago, and we’ve both moved on now. That’s how this works.” She shrugged. “Besides, I’ve got my eye on someone else.” She mumbled absentmindedly, lost in the view outside the window.

“Oh?”

Emma blinked, looking back at Lily, a little flustered. “What?”

“So, who’s the lucky girl?” Lily prodded.

“She is definitely a woman, not a girl. That much is for sure.” She smiled despite herself, her mind wandering to the contours of Regina’s body in her tight suits that she already managed to get etched into her brain. “Trying to be with her is going to be mighty difficult, but you know me, I like a challenge.” She chuckled softly, finishing her wine and setting the glass down.

Raising an eyebrow, Lily finished what she was doing, then proceeded to take off the gloves and draped them over the sink. “You still haven’t answered my question.”

“Regina.” Emma answered nonchalantly.

For a moment Lily seemed confused, but when she finally understood, her eyebrows nearly lifted off her face. “The crazy lady from last night?”

“She’s not crazy.” Emma defended, but the look she got from Lily made her roll her eyes and try again: “Okay, she’s not _that_ crazy. Besides, like I said, I appreciate a challenge.” She shrugged, picking up her empty glass and moving back to the living room with Lily on her tail.

“I’ve got an in, her son seems to like me. She does, however, have a boyfriend of sorts, I think.” Emma sounds a little troubled, frowning as she thought of Robin.

Lily chuckled. “If there’s one thing I know about you and taken ladies, is that they always seem to choose you. I can vouch from personal experience.” She smiles softly. “You’ve got a way with people, Ems. She’d be lucky to have you.” Lily shrugged softly. 

Pushing past the slight blush adoring her cheeks, Emma reached behind her on the kitchen counter and picked up a bottle of pills between her thumb and index finger. “I’ve gotta return these to her tonight, so wish me luck.” Emma laughs softly.

“You don’t need it.” She smiled, holding Emma’s gaze for a little longer than necessary. “Anyway, I just came by to make sure you’re okay. I’m sorry that things got a bit out of control yesterday.” Lily walked over to the sofa and picked up her things. “I’ll see you some other time: keep in touch.” She once again gave Emma a goodbye kiss on the cheek, then swiftly left her apartment.

* * *

 

Henry got home early this particular afternoon: he didn’t have any extracurriculars on Wednesday and that always left him with some alone time before his mom got back home. 

He loved her to bits but anyone could admit that she was a little intense, especially when you’re her son. He knew that she only wanted what’s best for him and in the long run he really did appreciate it. On Wednesdays, he just thanked his lucky stars that he got to play Call of Duty in peace, without his mom nagging him about homework.

A couple of hours into the game, Henry heard a knock on the door. Pausing, he frowned and glanced at the clock on the wall. His mom wasn’t due home for another thirty minutes or so, and she had the key anyway. He wasn’t really supposed to be opening the door when she wasn’t there, unless she told him that Robin would be coming over early.

Curious, Henry peaked through the peephole.

Recognising the person easily enough, Henry opened the door and smiled in greeting. 

“Hey kid, is your mom home?” Emma asked, looking around the apartment behind him, then directing her gaze back to the boy.

“She should be home within the next half hour. You can come in and wait for her if you want.” He stepped aside, making room for her to squeeze past him in the door.

“Oh I don’t know kid, I’m not sure she would appreciate that.”

“Come on, it’s okay.” He took hold of her elbow and practically dragged her inside. “Do you play?”

Emma look positively puzzled. “Play what?”

“Xbox, of course.” The boy grinned, gesturing towards the frozen soldiers on the living room TV. “Call of Duty, to be more specific.”

“Kid, you don’t know what you’re about to get yourself into.” Emma grinned, moving over to their fancy leather sofa and grabbing the controller Henry was playing with, unpausing his game and giving it a go to get back into the groove of playing.

Emma used to do this all the time when she was younger and she always slayed her opponents. She knew strategy and she was sly with her manoeuvres: she was the perfect teammate and the dreaded enemy. 

Once the other controller was all prepped, Henry stopped her game and chose the multiplayer mode, starting them off with a new game.

“I’m gonna kick your ass, Emma.” Was all he said before the both of them got lost in a different world. As they played, they didn’t really speak in coherent sentences and even those weren’t really spoken to each other. They mostly just yelled at the game and their players in turn.

Henry was so into the game he was practically hovering over his seat, hoping that standing would somehow give him an advantage when it came to trying to shoot his opponent down. Emma, in turn, was so concentrated that her tongue stuck out of the side of her mouth practically the whole time they played.

Regina had been standing by the front door for a few minutes, just watching the sight in front of her. She was angry at first, Henry knew he wasn’t supposed to be opening the door for strangers, and that’s basically who Emma was. But it only took her a couple of seconds to notice how happy he looked. Despite both of them yelling either at each other or at the screen, Henry seemed happy, full of energy and he was practically glowing with excitement at his new Xbox buddy.

Knowing she needed to make her presence known at some point, Regina cleared her throat loudly.

“Crap.” She heard Henry mumble under his breath as he paused the game. “Hi mom.”

“Hello dear.” She greeted, walking over to him and kissing him on the forehead. “Go do some homework please, I need to talk to Miss Swan.” Regina mumbled in a serious tone. Looking at Henry’s pleading face, she sighed. “You can play some more later.”

“Score.” He grinned, grabbing his backpack from the floor by the edge of the sofa and jogged to his room.

Emma whistled, making big eyes. “You keep him on quite a strict schedule, huh?”

“I do what needs to be done, Miss Swan, not that it’s any of your business.” She pauses. “What are you doing in my apartment?”

“Henry let me in.” Emma answered awkwardly.

Regina just looked at Emma like she was about to get on her knees and start praying for patience. “Well I figured you didn’t just break in and start playing video games with my son, Miss Swan. I mean _why_ are you here? From what I gathered last night, you have plenty of friends your own age.”

“I just wanted to apologise. Again. I was acting childish and I wanted to spite you.” She shrugged. “But hold on, just wait here.” Emma held up her hands and quickly dashed out of Regina’s apartment only to return some seconds later to a dumbfounded looking Regina still standing in the same spot.

Outstretching her hands, Emma presented her neighbour with an expensive looking bottle of wine. “I got you something. You look like the red wine type of woman, so I got you my favourite.” She smiled shyly.

Frowning softly, Regina took the bottle into her own hands, examining it.

“ _This_ is your favourite red wine?” she questioned.

Emma nodded softly. She was sure she made a good choice, but now seeing Regina’s reaction she severely doubted herself. She was supposed to be making Regina like her, and she can’t very well do that by giving her a shitty bottle of wine that she probably hates. Damn it.

“It’s my favourite, too.” She pondered. “What are the odds?” Regina mused and walked over to the kitchen island, setting the bottle down. Emma breathed a loud sigh of relief and Regina could swear she could hear her mumble “thank god” under her breath.

“Well, now that you’ve said your apologies again and given me your bribe, is there anything else?”

“I’m not bribing you.” Emma jumped at the offence, earning herself a raised eyebrow from her neighbour. She sighed in defeat.

“Miss Swan, is there anything else?”

“That depends. Do you forgive me?” she asked, crossing her arms over her chest. 

Regina scoffed, taking a quick glance at the bottle of wine. “Not a bribe my ass.” She mumbled. “Yes, you’re forgiven. Now please leave, I’m expecting company.”

“Your boyfriend?” Emma deadpanned. 

Looking slightly taken aback, Regina placed her hands on her hips. “Again, not that it’s any of your business, but yes.”

Emma nodded, smiling softly to herself. Regina seemed stuck up, but she was beginning to feel like this hard ass demeanour was just that: a layer she reserved for people she didn’t know or yet trust and right now, Emma was pretty high on that list. But Regina was capable of opening up, she’d seen her interact with Henry and with Robin, and both times there was nothing but love in her eyes.

Emma wasn’t shooting that high. She knew she wasn’t capable of making someone, especially someone like Regina, fall in love with her. Right now she would settle on even a seed of doubt. Something that could make Regina see that she was worth putting her walls down for.

She was curious to see the real Regina; not that she didn’t enjoy the current one. She was growing accustomed to being a pain in Regina’s ass. That’s how all the good stories start, after all.

“Have a good night, Regina. I’ll see you tomorrow.” She smiled, and without further explanation, left her apartment.

Regina was once again left stranded in her kitchen, wondering what on Earth just happened.


End file.
